


a man protesting his worth

by ohmcgee



Series: boarding school au [4]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Class Differences, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 03:52:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7997575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmcgee/pseuds/ohmcgee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Most of the time this is what they do -- sit on Bruce's bed together and read, comfortable with the silence between them and the rustling of pages, sometimes for hours at a time. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	a man protesting his worth

They end up like this on most days after classes are over, books in their hands, Harvey on one end of the bed and Bruce on the other. Bruce has never had a friend he could just _be_ with instead of putting on some kind of act. Sometimes he and Harvey talk about school or class, rarely about their home lives since neither of theirs is a particularly pleasant subject, but most of the time this is what they do -- sit on Bruce's bed together and read, comfortable with the silence between them and the rustling of pages, sometimes for hours at a time.  
  
"Oof," Harvey says after about an hour of reading, stretches his arms over his head and complains about getting a crook in his neck.  
  
"Just lie up here," Bruce says, scooting over to one side. The beds in the dormitories aren't as big as his back home, but both of them should fit, even though Harvey is broader in the shoulders than he is. "There's room."  
  
Harvey just shrugs and lies down on the bed next to Bruce. There's just barely enough room, enough that their hips and shoulders touch, but Bruce doesn't say anything and Harvey doesn't say anything, so Bruce just continues reading.  
  
Or, he tries to. Suddenly he finds that he keeps reading the same sentence over and over and yet he can't recall any of the words he just read. Harvey keeps reading, his pages turning and turning, and Bruce can feel the hairs on Harvey's arms brushing against his when he flips the pages, can feel the heat radiating off of him; maybe that's why his face is getting so hot.  
  
After a few minutes (after Bruce reads the same sentence twenty more times), Harvey puts his book down and turns on his side to look at Bruce. "Got any more of those?"  
  
"Yes," Bruce says. Once Harvey had told him what _awful_ reading material they had in public school Bruce had asked Alfred to bring nearly everything in the library for them. "I --"  
  
"You okay?" Harvey asks. "You look kinda --"  
  
"I'm," Bruce says. Being this close to Harvey is making his breath do stuttery things. It's making him not think things through, making him --  
  
Lean in and press his mouth against Harvey's.  
  
"Whoa," Harvey says. "What -- why did you do that?"  
  
Bruce blushes fiercely. "I'm sorry. I'm -- I'm truly. I don't know what came over me. I wasn't --"  
  
When Harvey kisses him back it steals the breath out of Bruce's chest, fills it with something warm and whole. "Oh."  
  
Harvey's head falls back on his side of Bruce's pillow and he sighs.  
  
"They'll kick me out. If they find out. You country club shit's can suck each other off in front of the goddamn headmaster and nothing will happen to you, but me? I'm just some scholarship _deviant_ , they'll --"  
  
"Lose every bit of their funding and donors if they do," Bruce says, sitting up and giving Harvey a lopsided little smile when Harvey gives him a curious look. "There's a reason an entire wing here has my last name, Harvey."  
  
"Jesus," Harvey laughs, rolls over and pins Bruce to the bed and grins down at him. "You're insane if you'd do that for me."  
  
Bruce just shrugs. "It would be too boring here without you."  
  
"Is that all?" Harvey asks, lifting an eyebrow.  
  
"No," Bruce says, pulling Harvey back down to him. "That's not all."


End file.
